Jailed Gaza hospital chief in life-threatening condition, rights group says
The son of Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, appeals for his father's release, saying he can barely breathe or speak after over 555 days in Israeli detention. Physicians for Human Rights Israel warns his life is in immediate danger.
Elyas Abu Safia, the son of prominent Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safia, issued an urgent video appeal on Sunday, July 5, warning that his father's health has severely deteriorated after more than 555 days in Israeli prison.
Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, was arrested on December 27, 2024, without charges. His son, also a doctor, said that after being transferred to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison, his father shows signs of severe abuse, including difficulty breathing and speaking.
"My father was unable to breathe. My father was unable to speak," Elyas said, adding that his face was disfigured from torture marks. Lawyer Nasser Odeh visited Abu Safia on July 2 and documented fresh bruises and injuries on his head, around his eyes, ears, and neck. Guards brought him in with his hands and feet bound, surrounded by masked officers.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel warned that Abu Safia's life is in immediate danger. Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department, called the lawyer's testimony "among the most shocking we have heard since the beginning of the war": a detainee without charge telling his lawyer he believes they will kill him.
Israeli authorities have not filed charges and classified him as an "unlawful combatant," a designation used to hold Palestinians without trial. He is one of 14 Palestinian doctors from Gaza currently held without charge. In March, UN experts called for his release and medical care. Additionally, another of Abu Safia's sons, Ibrahim, was killed in an Israeli drone strike two months before his father's arrest.
